Qatar Petroleum plans new wave of job cuts; announcement to come after Eid

Qatar Petroleum plans a new wave of job cuts and spending reductions to cope with the slump in oil and gas demand which has hit global economies, according to Reuters.

Economic lockdowns brought on by the coronavirus pandemic look set to cut global energy demand sharply with business activity stalling across much of the globe as the containment measures hammer the world economy, cementing economists’ views of a deep global recession.

Qatar Petroleum’s (QP) Chief Executive HE Saad Sherida al Kaabi told the company’s employees in an internal memo of the planned staff cuts which would be finalised after Eid-al-Fitr religious holiday, which is towards the end of May, sources told Reuters.

“Like all oil and gas companies, QP is looking at reducing expenditure due to the market downturn which […] will be weak for some time,” one of the sources said, adding that QP’s planned cuts would not impact its energy development plans.

The planned job and cost cuts will be the third wave of restructuring by QP over the past six years. In 2015, the company said it has reduced its staff numbers in a restructuring and decided to exit all non-core businesses after a plunge in oil and gas prices increased financial pressures on Qatar.

In 2018, it has also merged state-owned LNG producers Qatargas and RasGas into one company.

Kaabi told Reuters in 2018 that QP’s operating costs would be four billion Qatar riyals (US$1.1 billion) a year lower due to its earlier restructuring, which included cutting as many as 8,000 jobs to create a more streamlined operation.